A hospice is helping grieving families during the coronavirus lockdown with a new service.
St Clare Hospice is launching online bereavement support to support those who have lost a love one.
The new service consists of a series of seven localised Bereavement Café online community Facebook Groups, which cover Harlow, Hastingwood, Abridge, Ongar, Theydon Bois, Dunmow, and a Group for young people (aged 18-30).
Community engagement manager at St Clare Hospice, Sally Muylders, said: “Coping with bereavement and loss is always difficult, but in the current climate, people may be finding it harder than ever. Many people are grieving in isolation – they may have lost a loved one recently, and now find themselves cut off from their usual support networks due to the lockdown measures. Or, their loved one may have died longer ago, but the grief they feel is heightened by the physical social isolation they are now faced with.
"More than ever, St Clare can see that our role as a local hospice charity is to offer immediate, local, bereavement support to those who are experiencing death, dying and loss in our communities.
“We have been working hard over the past weeks to devise a way to connect local people experiencing loss and bereavement with others who understand – in a ‘virtual’ way. I am delighted that we are now able to launch our series of Bereavement Café online communities for the people of West Essex and East Hertfordshire – no matter where their loved one died, or how long ago.
"These online communities are an extension of the Bereavement Café project we launched in March 2019, and they offer a supportive space for people who have experienced loss to gather with other people, local to them, who may have had a similar experience.”
St Clare Hospice's Bereavement Café project was attended by 450 people last year; before lockdown events were café-style drop-in sessions.
Find your local Bereavement Café online community on Facebook, by visiting the main St Clare Hospice page at facebook.com/stclarehospice and clicking on the groups tab.
To find out more about St Clare Hospice’s Virtual Bereavement Cafés visit stclarehospice.org.uk/bereavement-cafe or call 01279 773700 or email bereavement@stclarehospice.org.uk
For more breaking news, local headlines and features, ‘like’ our Facebook page.
We also have a Twitter account: @EppingFGuardian
Follow us to keep up-to-date with news in Epping Forest.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here